Fabrication and characterization of strain-induced graphene for chemisorption-based graphene resonant mass sensors

Abstract We propose a strain application process and structure for a chemisorption-based resonant mass sensor using graphene, aiming to develop a novel sensing platform with high sensitivity and selectivity. The results demonstrate the successful application of 0.26%–0.30% strain to suspended graphene through the thermal shrinkage of SU-8, resulting in a 25% improvement in resonance characteristics. Furthermore, we demonstrated the mass sensing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spikes chemisorbed on the strain-applied graphene resonant mass sensor, achieving a mass sensitivity 149,000 times higher than that of silicon-based chemisorption mass sensors.